Comment on The Latest: White House says Trump condemns hate groups

Donald Trump said Saturday that he would not agree to a rematch with Kamala Harris, saying an October debate would be too late, the Washington Post reports. Said Trump: “The problem with another debate is that it’s just too late. Voting has already started.” Brian Stelter: Does Trump really want his VP to have the final debate word this election?

Wall Street Journal: “Like past Democratic candidates, Harris has made taking on wrongdoing by American corporations a central part of her pitch to voters, referring on the campaign trail to her record of taking on big business, blaming food manufacturers for high grocery prices and promising to increase taxes on corporations and the wealthy.” “But, in private at least, she is making a quiet play for corporate America’s support, seeking out advice from leaders across sectors.

“Barack Obama headlined his first solo fundraiser for Kamala Harris in Los Angeles on Friday night, bringing in $4 million for her campaign as he framed the election as a struggle against radical forces in America that want to take the country backward,” the Washington Post reports. “The event was part of the increasingly active role that Obama is playing in Harris’s effort as he wields his popularity within the Democratic Party to power grassroots fundraising and to galvanize younger voters to turn out in what could be a margin-of-error race.”

Donald Trump plans on addressing the disastrous scandal engulfing North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson “in passing," as he campaigns in the Tar Heel state this weekend. The New York Times reports that, while the Trump campaign is still hoping Robinson will withdraw from the race, aides believe Trump “will deliver a version of a comment he has made about countless supporters or former aides: that he hardly knows the guy." Quite the stretch for Trump, who told a rally in North Carolina back in March that Robinson was "Martin Luther King on steroids," and "better than Martin Luther King," and “Martin Luther King times two.” read more

“Donald Trump returned to the key battleground state of North Carolina for a rally Saturday, but declined to mention Mark Robinson — his party’s nominee for governor in the state,” ABC News reports.

“Vice President Kamala Harris will not attend next month’s Al Smith charity dinner in New York City, her campaign has told organizers, opting instead to stump in a battleground state on October 17, less than three weeks before the election,” CNN reports. “The historic Catholic fundraiser traditionally features light roasts by the two major-party nominees – aimed at one another and others – in presidential election years…” “Donald Trump stunned attendees in 2016 when he abandoned the collegial banter and launched a series of personal attacks on Hillary Clinton, who in her own remarks had offered the expected round of self-deprecating humor.”